How did you become the person that is here now?
What is it that made you the person that you have become?
Who is/was your hero/mentor?
Did it really matter to you about the lessons learned or taught?
Better yet, are you important to anyone who is considering you to be a hero/mentor?
Let me hear it from you folks and why it matters today, if it does, and if not why.
One of the most important persons I remember being very influential to me was the charge nurse in my hospital corps class at Gt. Lakes, Il. She took the time to help me through some very rough times for me, personally. Oh, I know, you say that is why she was there…no, really it wasn’t, but she did and I really did appreciate that…It gave me the confidence/courage in me that I really needed to give that very first shot and that was all it took for me to send the last 40+ years doing what I love best. It was the caring, interest, time-taking, steady hand [soft but oh so strong] and most of all her smile that gave me strength. I have never forgotten her for that very special thing she gave to me.
Now, yes, I gave a woman, online in a chat room, the umph she needed to get into nursing and to learn to drive a care. She lives in England. I became her mentor, so she said and if it weren’t for me, she would not have had the courage to learn to drive a car. She was so proud when she acomplished both goals. I am so very proud of here….
How about you?
Dear me, Brenda. I’d love to hear your answers, but I’m daunted by the task, and I’d rather eavesdrop on other people’s stories.
I think you’ll need to give us a line-limit here. I could do this late at night, with a good drink, snacks, soft light, good music. Who could I choose, from my great aunts to my much maligned then loved stat prof, to my nipping-at-the-heels doctoral advisor, to my husband who saves my sanity on a daily basis. And as to my effect on others, that isn’t for me to say. There are many I think of so proudly, (I think I have millions of “children”), but their accomplishments are theirs, not mine. As a natural pessimist, I’ve been fortunate to have funny, bright, challenging people to keep pulling me into the light.
And some of the wonderful folks who do this, are even right here.
….but you see, kidspeak, this nurse while I was in the Navy, she never knew how much she helped me out. I never thanked her either, for which I will eternally be sorry for. She deserved so much praise for what she did for me, at least. It set the course for my life’s journey. She will never know how much she helped me out. I never thought me as a mentor or as an example either, but when I recieved a personal letter from the one in England, I also recieved a copy of her certificate. That alone was enough to let me know how much I encouraged here through out the entire process when she was down. We played games or I set out senerios for her to challange her to think about. She then wanted to learn to drive and never thought she could..but she did and we also made games out of that too. So you see, we never know for sure just who we do help, but we do. I was lucky to be told about my help alone the way. YOu just never know…Yes I have many ppl in my life that made a difference in one way or the other…I just never forgot that one nurse…:o)
I know that there are probably a lot of people with a lot more insightful things to say than me, but your question is an easy one for me, Brenda.
My mom.
That’s it.
That pleases me to no end to hear you say that. Thank you. hugs
I hope I am a role model and mentor to my grandchildren…by marriage and my friend’s children.
And on which side of the Canadian border did they bury the survivors?
Great topic…but it could be a book for me to write!
Isn’t it something to think about, sallycat? I will be waiting to read your book…Thanks for thinking about it. I promise you will be the richer for it, too.
Without a doubt, my late father. Dad was the greatest. And we could talk about everything. I learned so much about the appreciation of history, writing, and many other things from him.
But, the thing is that we have/had the same type of personalities (strong-willed) and tempers (we would just shout at each other) which caused us to have so many arguments with each other when I was younger.
One of the times we got into an argument about something, and I finished yelling about whatever it was I was mad about and turned around to walk away. Then, we got into another argument–I still remember him saying, “Don’t you ever walk away from me like that, young lady! (So, then we argued about whether or not the argument was finished!)
We understood each other perfectly. Second to the last time we spoke, he apologized to me for all of the disagreements that we had. The last time that we spoke, we got into an argument and he hung up the phone on me. Damn if he didn’t always get the last word in!
Even in aruging, Kid Street, we can find our strength with those we love and respect. I know how much he meant to you. He has something even now to give to you. It is his strength that he devoted to you always. Parents are something that shoud always instill the most substantial ideas of who and what we are and how we got to be where we are today. :o)
Even in aruging, Kid Street, we can find our strength with those we love and respect.
That is the truth. And, I really hope that I did not do my Dad’s memory a disservice by writing about how we argued about things, because that was’t the way it was. He was always encouraging me to write, ironically. Even when I was younger, we would talk about books, and I remember repeated discussions about a book that he thought would be the greatest.
And did he ever have a big heart. He was the greatest.
So many good memories….